A public transit station Flag snaps against an Autumn sky above bustling city traffic with the “King and Queen” towers of the north Atlanta skyline in the distance. To take reference photos of this scene, I had to wait for the light to turn red, and then stand in the lanes of oncoming traffic. Framing the shots while keeping one eye on the signal kept me so occupied that I didn’t notice the bus going by until I reviewed the finished photos. It turned out to be the element that ties all of the others in the painting together.

A flag displayed on a grand, old Greek Revival home creates an iconic image. I must have been drawn to this scene because it looks so much like Georgia, but the setting is actually the tiny town of Rensselaerville, New York.

Small flags adorn the end of a neighbor’s driveway and ivy-covered mailbox in the long shadows of late afternoon after 9/11. The lush, serene suburban setting is in stark contrast to the terrible events of that day.

Dry grass, goldenrod and a touch of color in the sumac and the trees signals the transition from late summer into fall in the northeast Georgia mountains. I love the weedy foreground against the weathered fence and iron pasture gate.